Restored Blog #2

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June 17, 2007
So it’s been a few days and things are progressing quite well. I’ve gotten close to a couple of really cool guys here. A few of my better friends are British and they’re starting to rub off on me. I’m trying my best not to borrow their terms of speech. The same goes for a Californian guy named Jonathan, who I’ve also been spending a lot of time with. G-d help me if I start saying “rad.”
There are people from all over the world in Aish HaTorah (my school). Aside from the English, of which there are a ton, there’s a decent amount of Latin Americans and tons of North Americans. Some people are cool, but there’s definitely a fair share of super-weird people. It’s not because they’re religious—trust me, they’d be weird secular people as well—but I suppose any religious institution attracts its share of weird people. Mostly it’s socially awkward guys with no sense of humor, or just really dorky people with an equally dorky sense of humor to boot. Still, there are a surprising amount of really cool, normal, secular and religious people.
Some cool stuff has happened over the last few days too. I randomly ran into Efi! Efi!!!! For those of you not in the know, Efi was my tour guide on my Birthright trip. I loved the trip, it made a huge difference in my life, and though Efi was a wacky dude, he is most definitely cool. He is pretty much a hippie at heart, and always full of knowledge. I just happened to run into him walking through the Old City of Jerusalem. It was so random and cool. That’s Israel for you.
My living conditions are kind of shitty, but pretty much just like college life. My room is pretty empty, and dirty, but it’s cool. There are four beds, and after getting a new roommate today—Steve, a Russian from Staten Island—all are full. All the beds are thin flat mattresses. I’ll show you in the pics.
Other than that things are going pretty well, though I kind of feel like I’m separated from the rest of the world here in the Old City. My Dad called me the other day to tell me about all the infighting in the Palestinian territories and I had no idea what he was talking about. I have no TV in my room, limited access to the Internet, and not too many places here sell newspapers. It’s really annoying. Though I do like it here, it’ll be nice to get to Tel Aviv and get a change of scenery. I’m hungry for the nightlife, not to mention a bigger city where I’ll be connected to civilization.
Man, I wish I had internet access in these dorms. Whatever. ‘Till next time…
-Marcus Velelis

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Photos

My roomy
My roommate Jason. Probably writing love notes to his girl back in London.

Jordan
Jordan from down the hall. A Londoner as well.

My Room
It's very messy

Trying to Sleep
Me trying to sleep. Jordan would hear none of it.

Temple Mount
The view from the balcony at my school. Truly amazing. It’s definitely the best perk of being in my school.

Dome of the Rock
A closer look at the Dome of the Rock from the balcony.